Lizard and rigs

[bass109]

which is better lizards or creatures?

what is the best time to fish a lizard?

[BassFishingMachine]

Ya im starting to think bass will hit the lizard even if they don't live near the lake or the bass has never seen it before. The reason I say this is because creature baits work, and they look pretty weird, so why shouldn't a lizard work.

[Valascus]

Ok...here we go. Lizards.

You should definitely be trying it fish lizards in the body of water you have described, especially if it is a bait that they have rarely seen. It does not matter that the lizard is not native to your area. Bass do not look at ANY bait and think to themselves, "Hmmmm...lizards don't live this far north? Better not touch it." As long as it appears to be prey for them and can fit in their mouth, they will strike at it. How you fish them will determine it's effectiveness. This time of the year, lizards aren't the most effective bait. This time of year I usually reach for tubes, jigs, hard jerkbaits, jigging spoons (which I hate), and stickworms with slow fall rates, a.k.a. senkos. However, the lizard is a HUGELY effective bait come spring time, just a little before and during the bass spawn. They are especially tools for bed fishing for bass. The bass has many natural enemies that will pilfer their eggs, but the biggest three are crayfish (crawdads), bluegills, and lizards. Bass will remove these creatures from the beds very quickly and very aggressively due to their natural instinct to protect their eggs from these predators. Lizards are also effective fished in the summer and fall. During the summer, I like to fish them shallow early, next to your usual suspects as far as cover goes. As the day wears on, I will begin fishing shallows that are closer to deeper water or fishing the deeper water itself. During the fall, the lizard will start to play second fiddle to many baits, namely shad and crayfish imitations, but is still an effective bait. I fish it much the same way in the fall as I do in the summer time, except I spend more time shallow.

Now, as far as rigging goes, I will fish my lizards t-rigged with as light a weight as I can get away (sometimes weightless) with in the given conditions and a Gamakatsu EWG hook ranging anywhere from 1/0 to 5/0 depending on the size of the lizard. I may use a bead for my t-rigs depending on water clarity. If the water is clear I will not use one. Normally clear water bass are easier to spook than stained or muddy water bass. The extra noise from the bead may spook them. Clear water bass normally hunt more using sight than sound or vibration detection. If I am fishing beds, brushpiles, or heavy vegetation I will peg the weight. A pegged t-rigged lizard on a bed appears to be nose down on the basses bed, perfectly mimicking a lizard foraging for bass eggs. For brushpiles and heavier vegetation, a pegged weight will come through the cover better than an un-pegged one.

I will also Carolina Rig (c-rig) them, though rarely, since I am not a big fan of the rig. I will use the same hooks and size ranges for the t-rig. However, I will use much larger weights. I usually rig it likewise: first I will thread a bead, a brass c-rig weight (about 1/2oz or heavier if I am fishing deeper depths), and another bead onto the line. Next I will tie on a smaller sized barrel swivel. I will then take a length of line ranging from as short as 12" to as long as 48" (I usually opt for about 24"-30" for easier casting) and tie it onto the other end of the swivel. At the end of that length of line I will tie my hook on and then rig the  lizard the same way as you would t-rig it.

The last way I will deploy the lizard is another good one for bed fishing. That's the dropshot rig (which I am not a big fan of either). When using the dropshot rig I will cast the bait PAST the bed I am targeting and then slowly drag the rig back onto the bed. Then I will just leave it there until the bass gets aggravated enough to strike it. The way I rig a dropshot is: First I will tie on a larger dropshot style hook  of your choice (I recommend Stand-Out hooks or Owner Mosquito Hooks). I use a #4 or #6 sized hook. Make sure when you tie on the hook you leave about 12" of the tag end of the line so that you can attach your weight to it. I will use a ball shaped dropshot weight at about a 1/4 oz. To attach the weight, simply thread the line through the guide on the weight, tie a simple overhand knot in the line, and then pull the line back through the guide sliding the line through the skinnier part of the guide. The overhand knot will catch and hold the weight in place. To attach the bait to the hook simply run the hook through the nose of the bait and leave the point exposed. If it doesn't look like you have enough hook to hook the bass, use a larger size hook.

Colors and sizes of lizards. I chose my colors and sizes depending on the conditions I am fishing. I will fish lizards ranging from 4" (for dropshots) all the way to as big as 8" to 10" (for t-rigs and c-rigs).

Clear water: Use natural colors - watermelon, pumpkin seed, pumpkin, and green pumpkin. If the bass are easily spooked I will use smaller sized baits, usually 5". If they are not I'll opt for the bigger lizards.

Stained water: Use darker natural colors or natural colors with a little more "pop" - Chartreuse pumpkin, Pumpkin/Chartreuse, watermelonseed, watermelon candy, green pumpkin, kudzu, watermelon/ chartreuse tail, and watermelon red flake, Plum. Use whatever size lizard you wish here.

Muddy water: Use dark colors - black with red or blue glitter, Plum, Junebug, Black. Use whatever size lizard you wish here as well, but I recommend larger lizards since they displace more water and will be easier to detect in poor visibility situations.

Bed Fishing colors: When I am bedfishing or sightfishing I will use the colors listed above, but will sometimes use high visibility colors such as white, pink, electric blue, etc. to help see when the fish has taken the lizard into their mouth.

There you have it, the lizard...as  know it anyway. Good luck!